Sample-cutting mechanism for rolling mills



Oct. 5 1926.

J. R. GEORGE ET AL SAMPLE CUTTING MECHANISM FOR ROLLING MILLS Filed Jan.9 19 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Iva v5.72 z'dr sz J'ermne 7? Georqe .F'Zlrer Oct.5,1926. 1,601,959

J. R. GEORGE ET AL SAMPLE CUTTING MECHANISM FOR ROLLING MILLS Filed Jan.9 1-924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jrome 7E Georqe I'M-er? J-L'. 6'arro224 Bl?ltbrnqy Patented Oct. 5, 1926. 1

nnrrsn STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

JEROME B. GEORGE, F WORCESTER, AND ELBERT I-I. CARROLL, OF WESTBOYLSTON,

MASSACHUSETTS,

ASSIGNORS TO MORGAN CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, OF

W'ORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

SAMPLE-CUTTING MECHANISM FOR ROLLING- MILLS.

Application filed January a, 1924. Serial No. 685,178.

Our invention relates to'a mechanism for obtaining samples of theproduct of a rolling mill, such as rounds, squares, angles,

channels, or any other product of the finish ing rolls, while the heatedrolled material is in transit from the finishing rolls to a suitablereceiving means such as a cooling bed.

In ordinary practice, full length bars, or other sections, are gauged byhand after passing onto the cooling bed or other receiving means, fromthe finishing rolls, the gauging being done by a special operatorstationed at one end of the bed, or located on a bridge extending overthe same. When relatively small sections are being rolled, it ispossible for the gauger to cut off small lengths of the rolled productwith an axe, which samples can be carried back to the operator of thefinishing mill, who quenches them before inspection.

When however, the mill is rolling larger sections which cannot bereadily out by hand, the gauging must be done while the rolled materialis on the cooling bed or other receiving means, in a heated condi tion,and it is then necessary for the gauger at the bed to make a roughallowance for shrinkage and to signal the operator of the finishing millthe information necessary to make proper adjustments of the rolls. It isobvious that the gauger must operate close to the heated rolled productwhich is at substantially the temperature of rolling, and for thisreason the work of the gauger is attended with considerable personalclanger, particularly when gauging bars which are being moved on thecooling bed, or other receiving means. Furthermore,the gauger is alwayshampered in his work by the uncertain temperature of the material beinggauged, and it frequently happens that the calipers employed by thegauger become distorted by the heat of the material. lVhen the stock isin a heated condition, it cannot be handled freely and it is impossiblefor the gauger to properly determine whether or not it is pitted byscale being rolled into it, for the reason that proper examination forscale pitting or other surface defects should be made when the materialis cold.

According to the present invention we provide a mechanism for cuttingsamples of any desiredlength from any portion of a bar, or other rolledsection, while the heated rolled material is in transit from thefinishing mill to the cooling bed, or other receiving means. 'With ourmechanism, the sections cut out may be held stationary and allowed tocool before being gauged and inspected, or if desired, short lengths canbe,

cut from any particular portion of a sample and conveyed to the operatorof the finishmg mill, who is thus afforded an opportunity to quench thesmaller samples and:

examine them carefully, when cold, for scale pitting and other surfacedefect-s; Our invention further contemplates means whereby long pieces-cut off for inspection may be;

Fig. l is a planview showing portions of a conveyor and cooling bed withour sample cutting mechanism applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a'transverse sectional. view along the line 2, 2 of Fig.1,looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view along the line 3, 3 of Fig. 1,looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig, 4 is a transverse sectional view along the line 4, 4. of Fig. 1,looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view along the line 5, 5 of Fig. 1,looking in the directionof the arrows.

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view along theline 6, 6 of Fig. 1,looking in the direction of the arrows.

Like reference characters parts in the different figures.

'Referring first to Fig- 1, there is shown at the left. a portion of ahot runout, or conveyor, for receiving the product of the finishingmill, not shown. The conveyor consists of spaced parallel trough membersrefer to like hand side of Fig. I.

A type of cooling 30' 1 and 2, which are provided with openings 3 atsuitable intervals,withinwhich are located rolls 4. As best shown inFig. 3, the rolls 4 are cone-shaped and the periphery of each rollextends slightly above the bottom of tlie corresponding trough. Therolls 4 are mounted in pairs on shafts 5 extending across the conveyor,each shaft 5 having a pulley 6 mounted thereon, whereby the rolls areadapted to be driven in unison from a suitable source of power, such asa belt, not shown. The rolls 1 are adapted, by their rotation, to'advance lengths of rolled material, indicated at 7, along the troughs 1and 2, as the material isdelivered to' the troughs from the finishingmill.

The hot runout, l or conveyor, just described may be of any desiredlength to accommodate the product of the finishing mill, and by its"operation is adapted to longitudinally move the finished rods, or othersections, from the finishing mill to any suitable receiving means, suchas a cooling bed,"

a portion of which is shown at the right- I Any desired type of coolingbed may be employed to receive the material delivered by the runout, andfor purposes of illustrationwe have shown a bed which is adapted to im-'part a step-by-step lateral movement to the leii'gth's of materialdelivered thereto. Inasmuch as this particular type of cooling bed formsno part ofthe present invention, but is" shown and described in UnitedStates Patent No; 793,926, issued July a, 1905 to Victor E; Edwards,only so muchof the bed will be described, as is necessary for a completeunderstanding of the present invention.

Referring to' Figs; 1 and 6, it will be seen that a cooling bed isprovided for each of the conveying mechanisms, and as thesebedsaresubstantially identical in construction, only one need be described.Each cooling bed consists of a trough 8 having its bottom portionbounded by a shoulder 9 and a downwardly inclined portion 10 providedalong its lower edge with a lip, or flange 11. The trough 8 is providedwith a number of openings 12' in which are located conical conveyorrolls 13, with the upper portion of their peripheries projecting throughthe openings 12. The rolls 13 are adapted to be driven by pulleys 14,and by their rotation, advance the material which is received from theconveyor along the trough 8. A shaft 15 extends parallel to and abovethe trough 8, and is provided with a number of arms 16 carrying akick-off member 17 extending the length of the trough 8.Turning,movement of the shaft 15 in a clockwise direction is adapted tomove a length of material in the trough 8 laterally across the rolls 13until it passes over the shoulder 9, whereupon the length of materialwill roll or slide down the staggered relation with respect to the teethof the other series. A wing 20 is carried by each rack bar 18, which isadapted to lift a length of material over the flange 11 of the trough 8and deposit it in the notch provided by the first set of teeth 19 whenthe bars 18 are oscillated by mechanism,

not shown. Further oscillation of the bars 18 is adapted to cause thestock to be'moved laterally across the bed with a step-by-step movementall as fully described in the above mentioned Patent No. 793,926, toEdwards.

Referring again to Fig. 1, a trough 21 is interposed between the runouttrough 1 and the coolingbed trough 8, the trough 21 being ofsubstantially the same cross section as the trough 8, with an inclinedsurface 22: and a lip or flange 23, as best shown in Figs. 4 and 5'. Thetrough 21 is provided with openings 2%, within which are placed conveyorrolls 25, rotation of which is adapted to move the stock longitudinallyfrom the runout trough 1 to the trough 8 of the cooling bed. Thekick-off shaft 15, together with its kick-off member 17 extends thelength of the trough 21, so that turning of the shaft 15 in a clockwisedirection is adapted to also move a length of stock from the rolls 25 toa position at the lower end of the inclined surface 22. Consequently, ifthe movement of the shaft 15 occurs when a length of stock is partly inthe trough 21 and partly in the trough 8, the whole piece will be movedlaterally down the inclined portions of the troughs 21 and 8, so that itmay be severed at any particular point by a cutting mechanism, whichwill now be described.

As best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a pair of brackets 26 are pivotallymounted on lugs 27 extending upwardly from base 28, and a shaft 29 isrotatably mounted in bearings 30 carried by the free ends of thebrackets 26. A circular saw 31 is carried by the end of the shaft 29 andin its lower position is adapted to extend into a slot 32 providedbetween the trough 21 and the trough 8. The shaft 29 is adapted to bedriven from a 1y suitable source of power, such as an electric motor 33mounted on the base 28, by a belt 34 extending around pulleys 35 and 36.An idler pulley 37 is pivotally mounted between arms 38 and is adaptedto hold the belt 34: tight, as the saw 31 is swung into and out ofengagement with the work to be cut.

One of the saw brackets 26 is provided tion of the motor 45 is adaptedto impart an oscillatory movement to the brackets 26 by means of thecrank connection, one complete revolution of the motor shaft causing thesaw 31 to be swung from the upper position of Fig. 2 to the lowerposition and back again. Suitable switches, not shown, are

provided for controlling the operation of the motors 33 and 45.

Referring now to Fig, 4;, there is shown a pair of tongs 47, supportedon a frame member 48 between pins 49, and extending in the direction ofthe trough 21. The trough 21 is provided with a slot 50'into which thecurved ends 51 of the tongs 4:? may be inserted when it is desired tograsp a piece of material resting on the inclined surface 22 of thetrough 21, for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

Referring now to Fig. 5, a shaft 52 extends beneath the trough 21 forsubstantially the entire length thereof, and a plurality'of arms 53 aremounted thereon and extend upwardly in the direction of the trough 21.The upper ends of the several arms 53 ex tend into slots 54 provided inthe inclined portion 22 of the trough 21, and in their normal positionthe arms 53 terminate just above the flange 23. A lever 55 is mounted onthe shaft 52, whereby the arms 53 may be moved in unison through theslots 54 to push a length of material resting against thetlange23 up theinclined surface 22 onto the rolls 25, as indicated in dotted lines.

Having thus described the various parts entering into' our invention,the operation thereof is as: follows :V. hen the finishing mill is inoperation, the finished bars, or other sections, are'usually deliveredalternately to the troughs 1 and 2 in which they are moved by theconveyor rolls {1 in the direction of the cooling beds, or otherreceiving means. i-Vhen it is desired to take a sample, the length ofmaterial to be sampled is permitted to run along the trough 21 until aportion of it enters the cooling bed trough 8. Vhile a portion of thislength to be sampled still remains on the trough 21, the shaft 15 isturned, thereby causing the kick-off 17 to push the material off therolls and allow it to slide down the inclined surfaces 10 and 22, whereit comes to rest against the flanges 11 and 23, respectively. Assumingthat the saw 31 is in its upper'or inoperative position, the switchcontrolling the motor 45 is then closed, thus causing the saw 31 todescend upon the then stationary bar and sever it at a point between thetroughs 21 and S. Shortly after this occurs the operation of the coolingbed causes thev wings 20 to lift that portion of the bar on the trough 8and deliver it to the first series of notches of the racks 18, alongwhich it progresses with a lateral step-by-step movement. I

The severed portion of the bar remains on the depressed portion of thetrough 21 where it may be examined and gauged if desired without in anyway affecting the progressof succeeding bars through the upper portionof the trough 21 on their way to the cooling bed, or other receivingmeans. Should it be desired to have'pieces of the sample length examinedby the operator of the finishing mill, the tongs 17 are inserted in-' tothe slot 50 and the bar seized between the end portions 51. pivotallyswung betweenthe pins 4.9, thereby moving the sample bar longitudinallyin the direction ofthe saw 31, which in the meantime has returned to itsinoperative position. The motor 45 may then be operated to cause a shortlength to be cut off the end of the sample bar, after which the bar maybe again moved longitudinally by the tongs at? so that other lengths maybe cut off by the oscillating saw 31, as desired. As best shown in Fig.2, a chute 56 terminates adjacent to the saw 31 so as to receive theshort sample lengths as they are cut and deliver them to a suitableconveyor, indicated at 57 which carries the samples to a pointconvenient for the operator of the finishing mill, or" at any otherdesired point.

When a severed length has been thoroughly examined and short samplelengths cut o d, as just described, the remainder may be then returnedto the upper portion of the trough 21 by moving the lever 55 in aclockwise direction, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 5. The return.movement of a sample length to the trough 21 is best accomplished when alength of material is being conveyed through the trough 2, so tha thetrough 1 and the rolls 25 are free at that time. Upon being againreeeived upon the conveyor rolls 25, the sample length will en ter intothe trough 8 of the cooling bed, upon which it will be moved laterallywith a step-by-step movement in the same manner as preceding bars."

From the foregoing, it is apparent that by our invention we haveprovided an improved sample cutting mechanism, by means of which samplesof any desired length may be cut from heated rolled material as it isconveyed from the finishing mill to the cooling bed, or other receivingmeans. The particular length of material, from which 'it is desired toobtain a sample,'is handled in substantially the same manner as otherlengths of material, with the exception that the l ngth to be sampled ismoved from the The tongs are then fit conveyor rolls by the push ofi 17when only a portion of the length has passed onto the cooling bed.Obviously, samples ranging in length from a few inches up to thirty orforty feet, or more, can be obtained by merely controlling the time atwhich the push oil 17 operates to move the length of material from theconveyor rolls.

When a sample length has ben cut it can be allowed to remain supportedalong the lower edge of the trough 21 as long as desired for cooling andgauging, or short lengths can be cut therefrom by the saw 31 and quicklyconveyed to the operator of the finishing mill, who may then quench thesamples and inspect them at leisure. N hen a sample lengthhas beenexamined sufficiently, it can be readily returned to the conveyor rollsby means of the arms 53, whereupon the sample length will be conveyed tothe trough 8 of the cooling bed, from which it will be lifted and thenmoved laterally across the cooling bed, in exactly the same manner asother lengths of material.

lVhile we have illustrated our sample cut ting mechanism in connectionwith only one of a pair of runout conveyors and cooling beds, it will bereadily understood that our mechanism can be duplicated for the otherrunoutand conveyor, should it be desired to sample more lengths ofmaterial coming from the finishing mill. lVith the arrangement shown,however, it is quite possible to obtain a sample of every other length,owing to the fact that a length can be removed from the rolls and asample cut therefrom while the next length rolled is passing through thetrough 2' to the opposite cooling bed or receiving means.

\Ve claim,

1. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with receivingmeans, an auxiliary receiving device, and means for conveying theproduct of a finishing or rolling mill to said receiving means, of meansfor interrupting the passage of and moving a length of said product tosaid auxiliary receiving device, and means for cutting a sample fromsaid length while supported by said auxiliary receiving device.

2'. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with receivingmeans, an an iliary receiving device, and means for conveying theproduct of a finishing or rolling mill longiti'idinally to saidreceiving means, of means for causing the broadside transfer of a lengthof said product to said auxiliary receiving device after a port-ion 01said length has been received by said receiving means, and means forcutting a sample from said length.

3. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with receivingmeans, and means for conveying the product of a finishing or rollingmill lengthwise to said receiving means, of a cutting. device,,and meansfor removing a length of said product from said conveying device foroperation thereon by said cutting device after a predetermined portionof saidlength has been received by said receiving means.

a. In apparatus of the-class described, the combination with receivingmeans, and means for conveying the product of a finish ing or rollingmill lengthwise to said rereiving means, of a cutting device, means forremoving said product from said conveying means for operation thereon bysaid cut-- ting device, and means for returning the len th of DFOdHCtcut to said conve in means.

5. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with receivingmeans, and a conveyor for moving the product of a finishing or rollingmill longitudinally in the direction oi said receiving means, of meansfor removing a length of said product from said conveyor after a prdetermined portion thereof has been received by said receiving means,and means, for cutting oli the remainder of said length.

6. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with receivingmeans and a conveyor for removing the product of a fin ishing or rollingmill longitudinally in the direction of said receiving means, of meansfor removing a length of said product from said conveyor after apredetermined portion thereof has been received by said receiving means,means for cutting off the remainder 01": said length, and means forreturning the'cut off portion to said conveyor for passage to saidreceiving means.

7. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with receivingmeans, and means for conveying the product of a finishing or rollingmill lengthwise to said re ceiving means, of means for removing saidproduct from said conveying means to cut off a portion thereof, andmeans for returning the length of product out to said conveying means.

8. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with receivingmeans and a conveyor for removing the product of a finishing or rollingmill longitudinally in the direction oi? said receiving means, of meansfor moving a length of said product from said conveyor to cut off aportion thereof, and further means for moving said out ofl portionlongitudinally to cut off other portions thereof.

9. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with receivingmeans and a conveyor for moving the product of a finishing or rollingmill longitudinally in the direction of said receiving means, of acutting device, means for removing a length of said producttrom saidconveyor for operation by said cutting device, and further means formoving the cut off portion longitudinally for further operation thereonby said cutting device. a V

10. In apparatus of the class described, the combination With receivingmeans and a conveyor for moving the product of a finishing or rollingmill longitudinally in the direction of said receiving means, of acutting device, means for removing a length of said product from saidconveyor for operation thereon by said cutting device, and means forconveying the cut off portions of said length away from said receivingmeans.

11. In apparatus of the class described, the combination With receivingmeans and a conveyor for moving the product of a finishing or rollingmill longitudinally in the direction of said receiving means, of acutting device, means for removing a length of said product from saidconveyor for operation thereon by said cutting device, means for movingthe cut off portion longitudinally for further operation thereon by saidcutting device, and means for conveying the latter cut ofl? portionsaway from said receiving means.

12. in apparatus of the class described, the combination With means forconveying the product of a finishing or rolling mill and receivingmeansto Which said product is conveyed, or means for diverting a portion ofsaid product out of its normal path to said receiving means, and meansfor cutting a sample from said portion so diverted.

18. In apparatus of theclass described, a conveying trough for theproduct of a finishing or rolling mill, an inclined surface adjacent oneedge of said trough having a stop ledge at the lower portion thereof,kick-ofi' mechanism for removing a length of said product to saidinclined surface, means for cutting off a sample from said length as itrests on said inclined surface, and manually operated means forreplacing the remainder of said length on said trough.

14. In apparatus of the class described, a conveying trough for theproduct of a finishing or rolling mill, an inclined surface adjacent oneedge of said trough having a stop ledge at the loWer portion thereof,kick-off mechanism for removing a length of said product to saidinclined surface, means for cutting oif a sample from said length as itrests on said inclined surface, and lever mechanism for replacing theremainder of said length on said trough.

Dated this second day of January, 1924.

JEROME R. GEORGE. ELBERT H. CARROLL.

